Control

The Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT pairing delivers a playable, though not flawless, experience in Control, with performance that scales predictably across resolutions. The combination ranks in the 74th percentile of tested configurations for this title, placing it firmly in the mid-to-upper tier of systems. While the GPU often dictates frame rates at higher resolutions, the CPU’s strong multi-threaded architecture ensures that the system remains balanced at 1080p and 1440p.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Control?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the sweet spot, where the combo achieves an average of 73 FPS on High settings and 115 FPS on Low settings. At 2560x1440, performance remains solid with a 55 FPS average on High, but 3840x2160 drops to just 37 FPS on High, indicating a steep performance cliff.

Q: How does the RX 5700 XT handle the game's VRAM demands?

A: With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, the card has sufficient capacity for Control at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the playable averages. However, at 4K Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls to 32 FPS, suggesting that memory bandwidth and capacity become limiting factors at that extreme resolution.

Q: Is the i5-13400F a bottleneck for the RX 5700 XT?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. Its 10 cores and 16 threads deliver a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22604, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The performance scaling from 1080p to 1440p suggests the GPU becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases, not the processor.

Q: What settings should users prioritize for a smooth experience?

A: For a 60+ FPS target, the data suggests using Medium settings, which yield 82 FPS at 1080p and 62 FPS at 1440p. High settings are viable at 1080p with 73 FPS, but at 1440p they drop to 55 FPS. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p, where the combo still manages 63 FPS.

Q: How does this combo compare to similar hardware configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2767 out of 3720 tested configurations in Control. The CPU sits close to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS and Ryzen 5 5600X3D, with a negligible 0.3% difference in average benchmark scores. The GPU is similarly competitive, with a 0.1% delta from the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M.

Q: Does the game utilize the CPU's high boost clock effectively?

A: The i5-13400F's 4.60 GHz boost clock contributes to strong single-thread performance, reflected in a Geekbench single-core score of 1996. This helps maintain consistent frame pacing in Control's action sequences, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more prominent.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the defining component for visual fidelity in Control, and its specifications explain the frame rate patterns observed. The card operates with a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. These frequencies allow the 2560 shading units to produce a peak FP32 throughput of 9.754 TFLOPS, which is adequate for the game's particle-heavy effects and physics-based destruction.

The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is a critical factor at higher resolutions. While the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is generous for the card's class, the data shows a clear limitation at 4K. At 3840x2160, the average frame rate on High settings is 37 FPS, and it plummets to 32 FPS on Ultra. This 13.5% drop from High to Ultra suggests that the memory subsystem is saturated, as the game's texture streaming demands exceed what the card can efficiently provide at that pixel count.

Conversely, at 1080p, the GPU has ample headroom. The 115 FPS average on Low settings demonstrates that the card can push far beyond the 60 FPS threshold when unburdened by resolution. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p—115 to 63 FPS—shows a 45% performance penalty for maximum fidelity, which is consistent with a GPU that is compute-bound rather than memory-bound at this resolution. The card's position in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16361, confirms it as a competent mid-range performer for a 2019 title like Control.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides the computational backbone for this system, and its architecture is well-suited to Control's demands. The CPU features 10 cores and 16 threads, a configuration that handles both the game's main thread and background simulation tasks effectively. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz allow it to scale dynamically, with the boost clock being particularly relevant for the game's physics calculations.

The processor's memory hierarchy is robust, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core. This cache configuration reduces latency when accessing frequently used game data, which is crucial for maintaining consistent frame times. The Geekbench multi-core score of 11068 and single-core score of 1996 indicate balanced performance that avoids creating a bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 115 FPS, a figure that is more likely limited by the GPU's raw rasterization speed than by CPU throughput.

The CPU's 65W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a flexible pairing, though the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used. The 3DMark scores—7314 for 16 threads and 960 for single-thread—show that scaling is efficient up to 8 threads (5591), which covers the typical workload of a modern game engine. The 77th percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25292, places it just 0.3% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, indicating that it offers comparable gaming performance to that well-regarded chip.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-13400F and RX 5700 XT holds a rank of 2767 out of 3720 tested combos in Control, which places it in the 74th percentile of all systems tested. This is a respectable position, considering that the list includes configurations with far more expensive components. The rank suggests that this pairing delivers performance that is comfortably above the median system, though it is not at the bleeding edge for this title.

The CPU's position relative to its nearest rivals provides context for this ranking. The i5-13400F's average benchmark score of 25292 is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284) and only 0.3% lower than the Intel Core 5 120 (25362). This means that swapping the CPU for a similarly priced alternative would likely yield no measurable difference in Control's frame rates. The GPU tells a similar story, with the RX 5700 XT scoring 16361 on average, just 0.1% above the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and 0.3% above the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell.

What this rank indicates is that the system is well-balanced for the game. The 74th percentile placement is not a reflection of any single component's strength but rather the synergy between the CPU's strong multi-threading and the GPU's high bandwidth. For users with this configuration, the data shows that it outperforms roughly three-quarters of all tested systems, making it a solid choice for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Control without requiring component upgrades.

Resolution Scaling

The performance degradation from 1080p to 4K reveals where the system's limits lie. At 1920x1080 High settings, the combo produces 73 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High drops this to 55 FPS, a 24.7% reduction. At 3840x2160 High, the average falls to 37 FPS, which is a 32.7% drop from 1440p and a 49.3% drop from 1080p. This trend is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RX 5700 XT's fill rate and memory bandwidth cannot keep pace with the exponentially increasing pixel count.

The Low settings data provides a clearer picture of the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system hits 115 FPS, and at 1440p Low it reaches 87 FPS—a 24.3% drop. At 4K Low, the average is 59 FPS, which is a 32.2% drop from 1440p and a 48.7% drop from 1080p. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests that resolution scaling is primarily a function of GPU load, not CPU limitations. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would plateau at higher resolutions, but the data shows a steady decline.

The Medium settings measurements, which include min and max FPS values, further illuminate the system's behavior. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 82 FPS with a min of 70 FPS and max of 94 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 62 FPS with a min of 53 FPS and max of 71 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 42 FPS with a min of 36 FPS and max of 48 FPS. The min FPS values show that the system maintains frame pacing within a narrow band, avoiding severe stutters, which indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU consistently even when the GPU is heavily loaded.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Control provides a detailed look at the system's capabilities across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best performance. Low settings produce an average of 115 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings yield 82 FPS with a minimum of 70 FPS and maximum of 94 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay with moderate visual enhancements. High settings reduce the average to 73 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. Ultra settings bring the average down to 63 FPS, which remains playable but leaves little headroom for drops during intense combat sequences.

At 2560x1440, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings achieve an average of 87 FPS, which is excellent for 1440p. Medium settings produce a 62 FPS average with min and max values of 53 and 71 FPS, respectively, making it the recommended setting for a locked 60 FPS experience. High settings drop to 55 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold but still playable for most users. Ultra settings average 48 FPS, which is noticeably less smooth and may require adaptive sync technology to feel fluid.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates at higher settings. Low settings achieve a 59 FPS average, which is just shy of the 60 FPS target. Medium settings produce 42 FPS with a minimum of 36 FPS and maximum of 48 FPS, indicating that the experience will have visible stutter in action-heavy scenes. High settings average 37 FPS, and Ultra settings average 32 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for comfortable gaming. The data suggests that 4K is only viable on Low settings for this combo, and even then, the frame rate is marginal.